Q:
Is a virus a prokaryote or a eukaryote?
A:
Quick Answer
Viruses are neither prokaryotic nor eukaryotic. Viruses are in a separate category known as obligate intracellular parasites. By themselves, viruses do not carry the biological material necessary to reproduce; they can only replicate themselves by infecting prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells.
Continue ReadingFull Answer
A virus carries just enough genetic information to replicate itself inside prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells by hijacking the cell's internal reproduction mechanisms. Because viruses are smaller, simpler parasites, they often infect only a few species.
There is no known virus that can infect every animal on earth. For example, the Ebola Zaire virus is disastrous in humans, but the virus can be safely carried by its natural host, bats.
Learn more about BiologySources:
Related Questions
-
Q:
What the differences between a virion and a virus?
A: According to the Molecular and Cell Biology Department website at the University of Cape Town, virions are virus particles that contain the genetic informa... Full Answer >Filed Under: -
Q:
What is a pathogenic organism?
A: A pathogenic organism is a bacterium, fungus, prion or virus that survives by feeding off of a host. A pathogenic organism typically causes disease in the ... Full Answer >Filed Under: -
Q:
What is the smallest virus?
A: The smallest virus as of 2014 belongs to a group of viruses known as parvoviruses. These spherical viruses are about 18 nanometers in diameter and can only... Full Answer >Filed Under: -
Q:
How do viruses reproduce?
A: A virus particle is not a complete cell but an intracellular parasite. Hence, it cannot reproduce without the help of a host cell. Once inside a host cell,... Full Answer >Filed Under:
You May Also Like
-
Q:
What are examples of scientific management?
-
Q:
When is cladistics more useful than Linnaean taxonomy?
-
Q:
What are the factors that affect human growth and development?
-
Q:
What is the structure of carbohydrates?
-
Q:
What happens to excess glucose?
-
Q:
What are the coding segments of a stretch of eukaryotic DNA called?
